An eight-year-old boy who received a double hand transplant at Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia last month is recovering and making progress.
Zion Harvey, who lost his limbs to a serious infection, became the youngest patient to receive a double-hand transplant.
CHOP officials said he is doing well and making progress. He remains at the hospital where he undergoes intense occupational therapy four times a day.
The hope is that Zion will be able to return to school next month, but nothing is definite yet.
Zion, from Baltimore, received the transplant in July at CHOP. He is the first and only child to have a dual-hand transplant.
A 40-person medical team used steel plates and screws to attach the old and new bones. Surgeons then delicately reconnected arteries, veins, muscles, tendons and nerves.
Zion, a bright and precocious child, contracted an infection years ago that resulted in the amputation of his hands and feet. It also necessitated a kidney transplant, an organ he received from his mother, Patty Ray.
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She said he was doing well without hands, but the surgery was what he wanted.
"There was just something in his eyes when he says he wants to do it, so who am I to hold him back?" Ray said.
Leg prosthetics have allowed Zion to be very active, including walking, running and jumping; he had learned to use his forearms to write, eat and play video games, and has been attending school.
Physicians hope his new hands will enable him to achieve many more milestones, including his wish to throw a football.
Several adults in the U.S. have received double-hand or double-arm transplants in the past few years.
